Chapter 75 – A strange Prince

While Nozomu was taking Taisetsuna to near the wall of the Academy to wake her up again, in the Empire, Ahmed Khan, the only son of the Emperor was in the back garden of his father’s Castle frowning while reading a book and seated on a bench in the shade of a tree.
One of his father’s Ministers was next to him because, besides being the Emperor’s Minister, he was also the Prince’s tutor.

The old Minister cleared his throat and asked, “Your Highness, is something upsetting you? You seem somewhat distracted.”

“You noticed? Well, maybe it has something to do with that deadline my father gave you and the other Ministers. You have always been with me. You taught me how to read and write, while my father... Well, let’s just say he is not the most caring of parents. Did you already think of a plan to carry on with his idea of conquering the Principality?”

Your Highness is well-informed. I am sure it wasn’t me that leaked anything regarding that matter, so I wonder who it was."

The young Prince made a slight grin as he raised his gaze to face the curious old Minister. “The Castle has many ears and eyes, despite what my father thinks. I am also aware that he is losing the support of the Nobles with his latest hike in taxes, which got a bit too high for most of them. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of these days, maybe even before his deadline, something horrible happened to him.”

The Minister rubbed his chin and asked, “I am not sure what you mean, but in the event something like that happens, do you think you are, let’s say, ready to grab the reins of the Empire?”

“Considering you have been teaching me to do that for all these years, I would say I am. Still, there is the problem of my mother and my sisters. They are constantly contradicting me, and if I ever ascend to the Throne, they will undoubtedly obstruct every decision I make to improve the Empire. They tend to think more about themselves than about our people.”

“Unless… May God Raluth forgive me, they would also face your father’s destiny?”

“Precisely. I am not sure if I am not being clear enough, but something has to be done to prevent our Empire from breaking apart. And this strange idea of invading the Principality might very well be the beginning of the end.”

The Minister made a slight smile and nodded, “I think you are right, something needs to be done… Preferably, tomorrow… Like, at lunch, for instance?”

“Well, lunch is the time for family gatherings.”

The Minister noticed a slight grin on the Prince’s lips, but that quickly vanished when a servant approached, calling for him to have tea with his mother, who was asking for him.
While the Minister escorted the Prince, he made a slight nod, signalling that he would take care of everything.
Ahmed Khan nodded back, pleased by the easiness of his long-thought plan getting into motion. He was ready, and with the Ministers with the executioner’s blade near their throats, it was a tremendous incentive for the always loyal Ministers to change sides.
Meanwhile, the morning classes ended in the Academy, the students had a bath and were already entering the main room to have lunch.
Chujitsuna was seated at a table on a curve of her lower half and peacefully chatting with Tresuria when Muse Sirel’s voice made her look up.

The serious Dwarf Teacher was on her left, and she didn’t look like she came for a simple talk. “You have some nerve, Chujitsuna. Poisoning me like that? Are you nuts? I will-“

Muse Sirel looked at her leg because she felt a pinch there. She wide-opened her eyes when she saw a small dagger piercing through her trousers. She faced Chujitsuna, who merely shrugged while grabbing her waist and slowing her fall because her legs got numb.

Chujitsuna sat her on the ground against the wall behind them and asked, “Didn’t Teacher Egar tell you not to get near me? Or he did, and you thought I was joking? I will keep on making you sleep until you understand. You won’t threaten me or punish me. Ever. Or I will make you sleep for a few months for you to learn. Now, close your eyes, and stay right here while we eat.”

Teacher Muse started to snore, and Nozomu asked, “Chuji, did you make her sleep again? Geez, girl, she is a Teacher, and she is supposed to teach us! She can’t do that if she is always sleeping!”

“Well, I will not let her knock me out or kick my butt like she did to Taisetsuna. She either learns to stay away from me, or she will spend the rest of the year sleeping. Now shut up before anyone hears you! Give me your cloak. I need to hide her!”

Nozomu took it from the back of his chair, and Chujitsuna covered the sleeping Teacher. She made it look as if there was a bag there with a cloak on top, instead of a snoring Dwarf.

She sat down again and faced the frowning group at the table. “What? Not my fault if she is a crazy lady! You guys want her to knock me out? I don’t like to be put to sleep!”

“You don’t seem to have a problem doing that to others, do you?”

Chujitsuna smiled at the frowning Nozomu while she leisurely rolled her small dagger over the table. “Well, at least you know who you should call if you get insomnia, right? Heheheh!”

Nozomu sighed. It was no use when that weird girl was smiling like that because it always meant she wasn’t taking anything seriously.
She happily returned to her talk with Tresuria, who was staring at the sleeping Teacher and thinking if that was a good idea because when she woke up, she would be furious.

At the Principal’s table, Teacher Egar noticed the sudden disappearance of Muse Sirel from Chujitsuna’s side, and he mumbled, “Weird students we got this year… Amazing bunch most of them, but weird…”

The Principal heard something and asked, “You said something, Egar?”

“Nothing, I was just thinking aloud about what happened in the morning and trying to figure out what I would talk about in the afternoon during Strategy Class.”

“Oh, that’s right. They will also have Potions Class afterwards. Did something strange happen in the morning? Because I don’t see Teacher Muse.”

“Nothing important, but she underestimated the students and got fooled by one of them. She might be a bit angry in the afternoon or for a few days, but she will calm down, eventually. Or she will get her butt kicked again.”

The Principal asked for details, and Egar Gage resumed the morning events. When he finished, the Principal was shaking his head, “Really… the students this year are doing one crazy thing after another... I need to talk to Muse, or she might try to kill one of them. She tends to hold a grudge, remember?”

“I know, but I think Chujitsuna is worse than she is. I guess Muse found her match, and she would be a fool if she continued with her bickering. She must be the grown-up and move on. Or she will be poisoned again. It is never a good idea to mess with a Snake-kind, and Chujitsuna, despite acting like a happy fool sometimes, is the daughter of Hariruta Hito, and you remember how she was, I am sure.”

“I do. I still have nightmares because of her! She tried to kill me way too many times, and she almost succeeded if it weren’t for Innar Hito, who was always frustrating her plans! I have no idea how he made her fall for him to the point that she calmed down and became one of our best students that year!”

Teacher Gage took a sip from his glass and continued, “I think the Princess and Koyaga Azusake also had something to do with that. They were always with Innar, and that was why Hariruta was always angry. The moment he started to date her, she calmed down. She never liked the Princess, even while they were dating. Didn’t she try to poison her once? During a Potions Class?”

“Tried? She poisoned her and Koyaga! I was the Potions Teacher at that time because Teacher Tinch was on vacation, and I almost didn’t have time to make them drink a Healing Potion! Well, they were the ones at fault, actually, because they didn’t believe that Hariruta could make such potent Poison, and they agreed to drink it when she challenged them. Before I could intervene, they were already gulping down the Poison!”

“Right, I almost forgot about that! Well, Muse complained that the students this year were nuts, but she wasn’t working here when the Princess and her crazy gang were here! For as much craziness Taisetsuna and her Party make, they are mere children compared to them! Remember when the Princess blew a hole in your office because she missed a target on the field outside? Well, her target was another student that annoyed her, but we took days to close that hole!”

The Principal squeezed his fork and twirled his upper lip. “I forgot about that… I should have remembered her when she came here, but I had too much stuff on my mind. I had to move to a storage room until my office was ready. Her blast destroyed some very old and expensive books. She gave me new copies, but I lost the notes that took me years to make!”

“Well, the group this year seems calmer, but the year has just started. If I recall correctly, the Princess and Koyaga started their rampage right on the first day, so at least we are lucky. But I am still predicting some crazy stunts, especially from Taisetsuna and her group. We never had a Gailie, and now she has two pet plants with her. One was already dangerous enough, but that big, looking tree she made? That thing is scary! And fast! One would think that such a big plant would be slow, but he sure isn’t!”

“Do you think that Tomiga boy will give us trouble? He lost half his tail, and for a Lion-kind, that is a major issue!”

“Well, he might try something against Tresuria or her pets, and lose the rest. Another Lion-kind would quit, but from what I have seen so far, he is very dumb, and he doesn’t seem to learn. It would be a pity because Lion-kinds are amazing Adventurers, but if he is a fool, there is not much we can do. Time will tell.”

The Principal signalled with his head to Tomiga, who was glancing occasionally at Taisetsuna. “I know someone that might be able to do something. He seems very interested in Taisetsuna, and I keep seeing him staring at her from a distance. I think he likes her, but he is shy, or he doesn’t know how to approach her, considering she is always with her friends.”

“Well, he has a lot of work ahead of him if he is indeed after her. She is always with Nozomu, and Hinen and Robert Keskula are always fighting for her attention.”

The sound of laughter made them look at Taisetsuna’s table. Hinen had Draiky on his lap, and the small pet plant was squeezing his throat. He probably did or said something, and was now paying the price, considering that Tresuria was hiding her face with her hands as if she was ashamed, and Chujitsuna had a knife in her hand and was trying to jump over the table to get to him while Nozomu was holding her.

The Principal slowly shook his head with a smile, “But you are right, they are indeed funny, despite being completely nuts. It will be an interesting year, no doubt about it.”

Then, the ground trembled a little, and everyone stopped what they were doing. Another tremor and the students rushed to grab the plates and the glasses, preventing them from falling over the tables.
A big tremor followed the small ones, and that one lasted longer, making the Principal frown as he was holding his plate and glass.
When it stopped, there were three more tremors, but weak ones. After some minutes with nothing happening, they all took a deep breath.
At his table, Nozomu was staring at Taisetsuna, who was completely pale. He slowly shook his head, and she gulped the water from her glass to calm down. She suddenly remembered Hinotsume’s words, and she was terrified. He said that consecutive days with tremors were what she should worry about, and that was the second time the ground trembled.